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As federal investigators look into the financial dealings of former Lackawanna County Commissioner Robert Cordaro, they have asked questions about the complex financial arrangements behind his purchase of a $700,000 house near Lake Scranton.

Mr. Cordaro acquired the house in March 2006 at 57 Tiffany Drive, Dunmore, a 5,000-plus-square-foot home with four fireplaces, a home movie theater and sweeping views of the valley. At the time, he was employed as county commissioner, earning a salary of $76,017 a year. He also had other business interests, including his law practice and real estate concerns, that may have produced additional income.

The purchase is bundled in a knot of apparently interlacing mortgages. There may be a good reason why the sale was structured this way, but none was forthcoming from Mr. Cordaro, who has refused to discuss the transaction.

"I'm not talking to the Scranton Times," Mr. Cordaro said Friday before hanging up the phone.

At least two people say the FBI has questioned them about the sale: Tom Nolan, the lawyer who did the title insurance work, and Paul Taramelli, Mr. Cordaro's former chief of staff. Mr. Taramelli said he was interviewed and asked if he knew how Mr. Cordaro bought the house. Mr. Taramelli said he told the agents he did not know anything about it. The agents also subpoenaed Mr. Nolan's files on the sale.

The deed was not filed for more than two years after the closing, according to court records.

Three mortgages were filed at the time of purchase, but because the deed itself was not filed, the realty transfer tax was not paid and there was no county record of a change in legal ownership of the property.

The late payment was brought to the attention of Evie Rafalko McNulty, the county recorder of deeds.

"It raised a question," she said, noting the delay could have resulted in fees and penalties. She notified tax revenue officials in Harrisburg about it, but never heard back, she said.

A state Department of Revenue spokeswoman said she could not comment on specific properties.

Ms. McNulty said the law doesn't require someone to file a deed, which provides public proof of legal ownership of a property, but it does require that the realty transfer tax be paid when a property is sold. And the only way the county knows the realty transfer tax is due is when the deed is filed.

Several attempts to contact the listed seller, Brian K. Tuffy, were unsuccessful. Documents filed in connection with the Tiffany Drive house sale list Mr. Tuffy's residence in the 200 block of Pittston Avenue. A woman who answered the door there, Betty Harmer, said she was renting the property from him. She said she did not know where he was and he had not been by to pick up the rent in two months.

She said his brother, Shawn, lived in Glenmaura.

The Tuffys' father, James, who lives on East Mountain not far from the home Mr. Cordaro bought, said he had been advised by his lawyer not to comment on any inquiries.

He declined to elaborate and said questions about Shawn should be directed to the FBI.

The Scranton office of the FBI also declined to comment.

Mr. Nolan, the Scranton lawyer, said FBI agents had asked him which of the two Tuffy brothers appeared at the closing in his downtown office. Mr. Nolan said he couldn't identify which man it might have been. The three men were the only ones present at the closing, according to Mr. Nolan, who said he was sent out of the room by Mr. Cordaro after the title insurance part of the transaction was finished. He didn't see the rest, he said.

Courthouse records show three transactions dated March 13, 2006, and recorded within seconds of each other on March 14, 2006:

- A $350,000 mortgage from CORD Realty Partners to the seller, Brian Tuffy. Usually in a property sale the buyer, not the seller, incurs the mortgage. The amount of the CORD mortgage was hand-written in the margin. The mortgage was satisfied two years later, according to court papers signed by CORD Realty partners Michael J. Cordaro, Ronald J. Cordaro and Mr. Cordaro. Efforts to reach Michael and Ronald Cordaro were unsuccessful.

- A $400,000 "open end mortgage" from First National Community Bank of Dunmore to Mr. Tuffy, secured by the Tiffany Drive house. Open end mortgages allow additional amounts to be loaned to the borrower without the need to create a new mortgage.

- A similar $400,000 open end mortgage from FNCB to Mr. Cordaro.

Language in the two FNCB mortgage documents indicates they are related to each other. FNCB executives would not discuss the dual mortgages, saying its customers' business is a private matter.

Several lawyers said it was possible the two $400,000 mortgages were a way for the bank to protect itself by having both the buyer and seller on a mortgage, because the deed had not been filed.

The deed was not filed until Aug. 7, 2008. It was dated March 13, 2006, and listed an official purchase price of $1 but disclosed actual cash consideration of $700,000 for the purpose of calculating transfer taxes.

Following that, there was more borrowing activity this year, according to court records, including:

- Another open-end mortgage to Mr. Cordaro for $400,000 with FNCB, dated March 13, 2009, recorded on March 24. The language in the 2006 mortgage contains language that Mr. Cordaro could "renew or extend the line of credit from time to time in the future." That could mean this year's $400,000 mortgage was a renewal of the 2006 mortgage line of credit, though it is not clear from records.

- A mortgage for $10,948 taken out March 25 on the property from FNCB and recorded at the courthouse on April 2.

- A new $300,000 commercial open-end mortgage on the property from Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bank in Dunmore. The mortgage was made March 30 and filed at the courthouse on April 13.

Contact the writer: jmcdonald@timesshamrock.com

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48 posted comments

Is anyone in this county surprised to find out that Mr. Cordaro is involved in another questionable real estate dealing or other improprieties? This is par for the course with Mr. Cordaro...I'm even less shocked to find out that the mortgages are complex, interwoven, and through Dunmore banking institutions, selling a $700,000 for $1. BIG SURPRISE. And an "open" mortgage at FNCB and Fidelity, you don't say. How many mortgages do you need to cover the sale of a property for $1? The ONLY surprising outcome here would be if Mr. Cordaro and any of his "business partners" actually see jail time. Keep dreaming. As for all of Bob's fan club members, just one question. Is this incident a "Witch Hunt" too?

Thank you, Scranton Times-Tribune, for finally following in the footsteps of the class act that is the Times-Leader and doing some IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING! :-) I am thoroughly amazed by all of the sources you attempted to hunt down in order to piece this together. If it turns out Lackawanna County has just as much corruption as Luzerne County, then man am I ever glad I relocated! The mortgaging process of that home indeed sounds quite peculiar and should warrant further inquiry. If it turns out Mandalay greased his palms in the stadium deal, then I wonder if the taxpayers can collectively SUE Cordaro for that faulted deal as well?